Efficiency limitation for realizing an atom-molecule adiabatic transfer based on a chainwise system

Abstract

In a recent work we have developed a robust chainwise atom-molecule adiabatic passage scheme to produce ultracold ground-state molecules via photo-associating free atoms [J. Qian {\it et.al.} Phys. Rev. A 81 013632 (2010)]. With the help of intermediate auxiliary levels, the pump laser intensity requested in the atomic photo-association process can be greatly reduced. In the present work, we extend the scheme to a more generalized (2$n$+1)-level system and investigate the efficiency limitation for it. As the increase of intermediate levels and auxiliary lasers, the atom-molecule adiabatic passage would be gradually closed, leading to a poor transfer efficiency. For the purpose of enhancing the efficiency, we present various optimization approaches to the laser parameters, involving order number $n$, relative strength ratio and absolute strength. We show there can remain a limit on the population transfer efficiency given by a three-level $\Lambda$ system. In addition, we illustrate the importance of selecting an appropriate number of intermediate levels for maintaining a highly efficient transfer under mild experimental conditions.